The Chignahuapan splayfoot salamander (''Chiropterotriton orculus''), also known as Cope's flat-footed salamander, is a species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

in the family

Plethodontidae Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. In ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Mexico and known from the southern and eastern margins of the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States b ...

between northern

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cu ...

and northern

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

. It was removed from the synonymy of ''

Chiropterotriton chiropterus The common splayfoot salamander or common flat-footed salamander (''Chiropterotriton chiropterus'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Huatusco–Xalapa region of Veracruz, Mexico. Several unnamed specie ...

'' in 1994; unnamed species may also exist in this species complex. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are pine-oak and fir forests; it tolerates some habitat modification. It is a relatively common, terrestrial species. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

caused by logging and human settlement.

References

Chiropterotriton Endemic amphibians of Mexico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1865 {{Plethodontidae-stub